In modern local networks, for example at a facility or production site, in particular in home networks, the number of customer premises equipment is steadily increasing. This is particularly true for modern connected homes. This entails a continuously increasing complexity of the local network, because more and more functions are embedded in a single device. This ever-growing complexity and interconnectivity of the devices increases the dependencies between these devices in the local network. In a modern connected home, this situation can impact the data communication between the individual devices. When one of the home devices runs an older system software version than the other, the devices may no longer be able to communicate with each other because the firmware versions are not compatible with each other. The situation becomes even more critical during a firmware update or upgrade process.
In a home network system having multiple interconnected devices, firmware updates of the devices are traditionally performed in an unmanaged and unsynchronized way. A typical prior art network system 2 is for example illustrated in FIG. 1. There is a local network 4, for example a home network, comprising an arbitrary number N of devices 6, in particular home devices, namely: “Device 1”, “Device 2”. . . “Device N”. Each device 6 establishes an individual connection to a dedicated remote management server 8, which is in charge of providing the firmware update for the corresponding device 6. The data link is typically established via the internet 10. There is a first remote management server: “Mgmt server 1”, which provides the firmware update for the first device (Device 1). Similarly, there is a 2nd and nth remote management server (Mgmt server 2, Mgmt server N), providing the firmware update for the 2nd to nth device 6. A frequently known communication protocol, which defines on how the communication between the device 6 and the remote management server 8 is performed, is the TR-069 standard.
Each device 6 in the local network 4 performs a system software update upon reception of an update request from the corresponding remote management server 8. The unmanaged and unsynchronized system software update can, however, cause severe problems with respect to the interconnectivity between the devices 6. A situation when a first device 6 performs a restart while a second device 6 still downloads the firmware image cannot be avoided. The restart, which typically takes place at the end of the update process, interrupts the network connection. This critical situation can occur, when for example a home gateway performs a restart and terminates the internet connection of the other connected devices 6, which may not yet have finished their update. The restarting home gateway providing network connectivity to a variety of home devices, such as set top boxes, television sets, or other home appliances for example a refrigerator, etc. interrupts the network connection. The firmware downloads of the other devices, which may still be ongoing, are interrupted, which may cause fatal problems within the operating system of the devices 6. In addition to this, the stand-alone action of each device 6 may lead to interconnectivity problems, which are due to the different firmware versions running on the devices 6. For instance, the home gateway restarts its new firmware using an advanced data communication protocol while the set top box still runs the older version. This can lead to incompatibilities on the data link between the two devices.
Document US 2004/0083471 A1 discloses a method of upgrading the system software of a home appliance in a home network. This particular home network comprises a home server, which is in charge of coordinating and synchronizing the system software versions of all devices in the home network. This central entity, i.e. the home server, can avoid chaos situations during firmware updates. However, the home server has to be reconfigured after addition or removal of any device. The home network requires a high maintenance and is not flexible.